MOF‐Directed Synthesis of Crystalline Ionic Liquids with Enhanced Proton Conduction

AbstractArranging ionic liquids (ILs) with long‐range order can not only enhance their performance in a desired application, but can also help elucidate the vital between structure and properties. However, this is still a challenge and no example has been reported to date. Herein, we report a feasible strategy to achieve a crystalline IL via coordination self‐assembly based reticular chemistry. IL1MOF, was prepared by designing an IL bridging ligand and then connecting them with metal clusters. IL1MOF has a unique structure, where the IL ligands are arranged on a long‐range ordered framework but have a labile ionic center. This structure enables IL1MOF to break through the typical limitation where the solid ILs have lower proton conductivity than their counterpart bulk ILs. IL1MOF shows 2–4 orders of magnitude higher proton conductivity than its counterpart IL monomer across a wide temperature range. Moreover, by confining the IL within ultramicropores (<1 nm), IL1MOF suppresses the liquid–solid phase transition temperatures to lower than −150 °C, allowing it to function with high conductivity in a subzero temperature range.